A woman barred from running for district chief because of her gender has got the backing of Sierra Leone's human rights commission in her petition to the appeal court for a new election and a place on the ballot. Elizabeth Torto, a nurse in her 60s, has worked in Kono district for 30 years. She maintains she is eligible because her father was a chief, but officials said custom and tradition prevented her entering the vote, won by her nephew out of nine men. She was also harassed after going to the capital to complain. Commissioner Yasmin Sheriff said the attack was "not tradition, but hooliganism".